Come Dine With Deana

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Hi,

I absolutely love the TV series on Channel 4 called
‘Come Dine With Me’. It’s not just the food served that is
interesting but all the different contestants chosen from every walk
of life, with different cultures, different backgrounds - some have
money, some have not, some have manners and some definitely do not!

However they all have one thing in common and that is they all love
cooking and entertaining . This then brings me to the question what
makes a perfect dinner party? I think the answer is there is no such
thing. As proved on Come Dine With Me everyone is so different they
all have such differing tastes in food (I cant believe how many
adults don’t like so many things!) should your dinner party be
formal? (could be perceived as stuffy) should your dinner party be
relaxed (could be perceived as you don’t care) should you go all out
to try and make everything perfect? (very irritating and
intimidating). I could go on and on and usually do. However, I have
been cooking and hosting dinner parties for about 16 years and have
probably made every mistake in the book which is why I now feel I
can pass on a few ideas which have worked for me.

If you decorate your table (I
recommend the night before), provide home cooked food, music, wine
and pleasant conversation I am sure you will have a lovely fun time.
A good evening is not just down to you either, if you have provided
all of the above, (and believe me, dinner parties are not cheap),
your guests have a certain responsibility to meet you at least half
way.

And don’t forget when things are looking really bleak
remember “you can't please all of the people all of the time just
some of the people some of the time”.